The Father

"Wow, all these messages are from the same person! Whoever this Matthew dude is, he's pretty desperate." Aunora murmured, scrolling through the messages with dry amusement.

"Matthew?!" Umbra cried, still trying to snatch the phone from Aunora. "Don't read those messages! They're private!"

Aunora cackled, smirking at Umbra. "Why? Is Matthew your boyfriend or something? Do you not want me reading your steamy conversations to your innocent child?"

"Matthew is not my lover, he's a close friend of mine. And quite frankly, I'm very concerned about him, so give me the freaking phone so I can see what's wrong."

Aunora seemed startled by Umbra's severe tone, and she begrudgingly handed him the phone.

Umbra immediately directed his gaze to the smartphone's illuminated screen, thumbing through the messages his phone had collected. "Crap!" Umbra muttered, shaking his head. "I forgot all about that... Victor, we were supposed to have lunch with Matthew yesterday! He must have been freaking out when we didn't show up, and then I didn't even answer my phone all day!" His eyes scanned over another section of messages, and he cringed. "Oh, no..."

Victor became fearful, tugging on Umbra's sleeve. "Is Dad okay?" he whispered, eyes wide.

Umbra shakily smiled, patting Victor on the head. "He's fine. I'm just going to have to change our breakfast plans. We're going down to Silver Moon to eat. Matthew's a better chef than I am, so you should enjoy that."

"Wait, wait, hold on a sec. Victor just called that guy 'Dad.' I thought you said that this dude wasn't your boyfriend?"

Esper frowned, politely touching the demon horse on the arm. "Please, Aunora, questioning people like this is very rude..."

"Matthew is Victor's father, and I am too. And, as I just said, we are not in a romantic relationship. We decided that Victor should have two parents, so I put both our names on his adoption papers. Is that too hard for your little pea-brain to understand?"

"Fine, fine, whatever. But what the crap is Silver Moon?" Aunora asked.

"Oh, that's simple. Matthew owns a restaurant in town, that's all. It's rather ritzy, so I highly doubt you've ever heard of it."

Umbra turned to Victor, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Okay, dear. I need you to go take your medicine and get dressed. I laid out an outfit on the bed for you to wear. Please be hasty, I want to meet up with Matthew as soon as possible."

Victor nodded, running up the stairs. He felt anxious, concerned about what had made his father so desperate to meet up with Matthew. What's going on? Is he sick again? Victor thought as he entered his room, pulling off his hoodie and shorts.

He slipped on Umbra's chosen outfit- his maroon jacket, dress shirt, and black slacks- and rushed into the room beside them, where the bathroom was. He opened up the medicine cabinet, withdrawing a dark orange bottle. Inside the bottle, a thick liquid sloshed within.

Victor's doctor had assigned him a daily potion regimen to help his iron levels and to remedy the weakness he often felt. It tasted absolutely disgusting, but Victor knew it was crucial for him to take it every day.

Victor unscrewed the cap of the bottle, pouring the potion into it, and stopped at the defined 'fill line.' Grimacing, he drank the medication, swallowing the contents with difficulty. Once the remainder of the potion slide down his throat, Victor chased it with several sips of cold water.

Before he went back down the stairs, Victor ducked back into his room and grabbed his silk cravat and his skull pin. He wasn't sure how to tie the piece of cloth around his neck, so he always had his father to do.

Coming down the stairs, Victor found that Umbra had summoned his naginata, and a crackling portal had opened in the middle of the kitchen.

We're teleporting? Man, Dad's pretty serious about this. He doesn't even want to take the, like, fifteen minute walk to Silver Moon... Victor thought, stepping up to Umbra and holding out the cravat. Umbra nodded, unhanding his weapon and allowing it to dissolve in a shower of magic sparks. Umbra swiftly tied the cravat around Victor's neck, easily sticking the pin into the fabric.

"Come on, into the portal, Victor. We've got to go." Umbra murmured, patting him on the back.

"Are we included in this?" Aunora said, gesturing to herself and Esper.

"Of course. Now, hurry up!" he snapped, the demon horse and nature spirit quickly hopping into the spiraling vortex.

Victor sighed heavily, flinging himself into the portal.

Author's Note- Thanks, Wattpad, for deleting what I wrote last night! Anyway, do you think my writing has improved since the last arc? Can you tell a difference? Please tell me! (Along with commenting and voting!)